DHEC's Health and Environment Blog

DHEC in the News: Flu, radon, stomach virus

The flu is making its annual presence known – and, as medical professionals warn, that’s nothing to sneeze at. Daniel Island, like many communities across the South Carolina and the nation, is not immune to the impacts of the pesky bug, which can bring fever, fatigue, stomach upset, congestion and other symptoms to those who catch it.

The state health department reported Wednesday that another 22 South Carolinians have died from the flu this season and that hundreds more were recently hospitalized.

Numbers included in the new report offer clear evidence that flu activity has been widespread and rampant across the state this month. And it doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

Seventeen of the latest flu-related deaths occurred between Jan. 14 and Jan. 20, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported. Five of those deaths were attributed to prior weeks. Since October, 46 people have died from the flu in this state.

The new year brings a focus on good health and progress. Nowhere is emphasis more important than the home, where so many spend so much of their time.

Your home, however, may be causing you harm and you don’t even know it.

The No. 2 cause of lung cancer in the United States is radon gas. The Environmental Protection Agency reports that radon causes more than 20,000 lung cancer deaths every year. The World Health Organization states that as many as 14 percent of the lung cancer cases in many countries are caused by exposure to radon.